Destruction does not always mean problems and chaos, as was demonstrated in the MasterClass for fellows from various young professional programs on the first day of teh UN Foundation’s Social Good Summit. Very often one needs to break down old gestalt so that new paradigms could find their places and take root in society. Development of digital technologies would be the most prominent example. Just as the telephone once came to replace telegraphs, and just as computers took the place, once proudly held by the typewriters, any innovation edges out some old order. The displacement of the old with the new may take place not only on the level of some digital novelties, but also of methods and perceptions. Daniella Foster, the Director of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) at the State Department, enthusiastically told the tale of destruction, which, in the most unexpected manner, ended up involving her.

It would seem that no one would immediately volunteer the government as a candidate to be a depository of innovations. Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of Daniella and other progress-minded officials, even such an ossified bureaucracy like the State Department moved forward to join the rest of society in the 21st century. Laughing, Daniella told us about the State Department’s attempts to compete with the private sector and to develop a system of social media on the governmental level. By the time the State Department got to this “innovation”, private sector had already gone very far ahead in terms of its social media practices, and all the “progressive” suggestions appeared hopelessly outdated. This happened time and again, and finally, Daniella suggested ending the race between the turtle and the hare and simply to catch a ride on the hare.

She got the idea of partnering with private industries, which in itself, ran counter to past governmental practices in the area of communications. However, much to the great astonishment of Ms. Foster’s colleagues, this entente worked out well. Both partners had something to gain from such an alliance. The government would receive innovations, for which the officials would otherwise have no money, time, or approach, whereas the private industries would receive desirable subsidies for explorations in science and technology. However, creative destruction, often does not come easy. Just like Daniella Foster, Mary Ann Petrillo, who works for Cisco, and Peter Sims of 92Y, known for his book “Small Bets”, expressed the opinion that without failures, creative destruction is rarely successful. Sims claimed that failures lead to growth, improvements, and even many innovations, whereas Foster stated that in the contemporary society, individuals, with an attitude of exclusivity towards progress, are doomed to failure, while a team or partnership attitude will lead to the review of archaic perspectives and the development of new methodologies. All the participants of the morning discussion concurred that today’s development runs along the partnership model, whereas the old donor-beneficiary model have fallen into oblivion. Each partner in innovation development has to bring something appropriate to the table. Each carries a portion of the responsibility. Each has to be able to correctly evaluate the values of the other participants, to be ready for failures and for destruction, while preserving a flexible mindset towards finding agreement in a team environment. In such cases, destruction will not be problematic; on the contrary, even after many failures, it will inevitably lead to important, useful, and constructive innovations.